Sapphires Never Die
by Zizichan96
Summary: That terrible day when the MET was bombed didn't kill quite as many people as it should have... Not only is Hagi still here, but Amshel is at large as well, and he seeks to bring back the one person who should never have truly died. ABANDONED.
1. Sowing the Seed

**Chapter 1 - Sowing the Seed**

He needed a queen.

He _needed_ one, a physical ache that sat inside him constantly like his body's need for blood. He needed a queen, any queen, for her blood, for her power, for her beauty. He needed one. Without a queen, his dreams, if he could even call them that, would never be realised.

His need, his precious, his beloved, his experiment that had filled the hole inside him had been Diva. It used to be Diva.

_Diva…_

The word, the name, the memories; they all brought a tightening around his eyes when he thought of them. It had been Diva. She had been his sun, his moon, his earth and sky. She was his true queen; his mother. But Saya had killed her.

Saya.

She was a queen too, he reflected. Yes, she was a queen, perfectly capable of filling the hole, though not perfect. Not perfect. She would not do, compared to Diva she was a sparkly pebble to a diamond. No comparison. She would not do; she was too violent, too dangerous to be his tool, his experiment, his love.

Saya. She had opened up this wound inside him. She had killed his Diva. Now Diva was gone.

No matter; Diva was just one queen, and there were more. He did not despair; Diva's children. Two queens! Think what he could have accomplished with _two_ precious queens of this fascinatingly powerful creature he was now one of. But Saya stopped him. She 'protected' them. She nearly killed him.

Not quite. Not quite; she did not finish her job. Hagi lived, and so did he. Silly girl. She was not worthy of being related to his beloved Diva, not worthy of her title of 'queen'.

She did not finish her job. She had not 'saved' the twins yet. Not yet. He tried and tried and tried; he haunted them, desperate. So desperate he felt ashamed, but desperate nonetheless.

Why could he not get the twins? Why was it that the combined efforts of two queens too much for him? Just two… and when Saya awoke, they would become three. He had thought himself unbeatable; only his queen could make him bow. He had come so close to killing Saya many times with her powerless to stop it; surely that showed something? But no, he cannot get hold of them. Hibiki and… Kanade. Kanade… she is the one whom he most covets; he wants her more than her red-eyed sister.

For she has the blue eyes of her mother… but her spirit, her will, it is like Saya's; fiery and feisty. But Hibiki is like that too; they are twins… looks is as far as their resemblance to Diva goes. But they are still queens. They are still the only thing he wants… but he cannot get them.

The Red Shield, they protect them, but they can protect themselves, and they do _not_ want to come with him. At this rate, his need will never be satiated.

But the twins will not do, Saya will not do. So who will?

Diva.

Of course. Why hadn't he thought of it earlier? He could bring her back. The number of samples he had from his beloved queen; the knowledge of her he had carefully collected of her over the years, it was enough to make an army of Divas. But he only needed one. Just one.

He could clone her. That had been his plan; his course of action. But the twins could not leave him alone; they didn't stop at being inaccessible, they had to hunt him too. And they did, with meticulous precision. He had never foreseen the combined power of two queens, working in tandem.

It was powerful, to say the least.

Their relentless pursuit, unpunctuated by sleeps, gave him no time. He was a rat; always on the run, always on the move. He did not have time to secretly grow Diva a new body. Of course, it would not be _Diva_; it would simply be like her. An exact replica, as if she had been reborn; without memories, the bad memories that had always made her mistrust him slightly. It was ideal, when he thought about it. But he had no time.

Although, running away did give him one kind of time; time to think. And he realized what possibilities there were. Diva's blood had worked in strange and powerfully transforming ways. Why not her DNA? If a human were to be injected with Diva's _DNA_, how would they change? He had tried it with samples, during a brief lull from running in Germany. And those samples gave him the desired answers.

While her blood changed a human into a chevalier, her DNA, her genetic structure; that _overtook_ the human's DNA, rewriting it to match her own. A foolproof way of surviving. Except then the human cells died. Fourteen human females of around Diva's age had all been tested and died during the transformation process, coughing up blood, choking on their own fluids, bleeding from their eyes, ears, mouths. That was all he could discover before the twins found him once more.

There was something missing, and the thought nagged at him all day and all night, an incessant, unreachable itch. Even now, as he staggered, bleeding, through the hospital wing with the twins hot on his trail, part of his mind turned over the problem over and over again.

Why did they die? What was missing? What was the solution? Science and reasoning spun and danced in his brain, but no answers were forthcoming. A gurgle of blood, and he finally healed. The twins' blood was not fatal to him; a chevalier of the previous generation, but it did slow down healing, which was most irritating. It was only by getting in through a window that he'd managed to pass through the hospital unnoticed.

His stride quicker now that he no longer had a gaping gash in his abdomen, he hurried through the near abandoned wards; it was, after all, late evening, well after visiting hours, and not many people were about. He passed a sign which told him he was now in the maternity ward; a fact he took in but did not consider.

Not until later.

It was the slap of running feet that had him ducking into an open doorway to hide; and he felt ashamed. He had once been proud, and now he was hiding like prey. It irked him, but had to be done; the twins were fearsome. In that way they were also like their mother.

He shut the door just in time, as Hibiki and Kanade came whirling around the corner, blades flashing and hair swinging, followed by the faithful Hagi and Solomon. They cast about, but they were unskilled; they did not sense him, and hurried on past. Straightening, he took in the room. A pregnant mother, blonde, lay asleep on the hospital bed by the window. It looked like a check-up; the young thirty-something year old could not have been more than nine weeks pregnant.

It was then that it hit him. Of course, of course. The change of transforming into Diva was too much for fully formed humans to bear, but an embryo? That was still growing? The DNA would work itself into the unborn child's, and take over the child's original DNA structure; causing the baby to be born an infant queen; Diva. Then he would have his beloved queen, his cherished Diva, once more.

It was crap science, and he knew it, but he was so, so desperate, and clutched at the hope. Taking the precious syringe from his pocket, he crept forwards.

The mother was still asleep, and as he looked at her he noticed that although they were in Paris, she did not look Parisian, but rather 'English Rose', as it were. Although that did not mean much, especially to him. Leaning over, he silently slid the covers away from her barely rounded belly, and slipped her hospital gown up. He probed gently with his fingers, searching for the place where the unborn was closest to the surface of its mother's skin.

Then another thought hit him, and he cast around for the records. Thankfully, he found them fast, and flicking through them he discovered to his relief that the unborn was a girl. That made it easier. Returning to the slumbering pregnant woman, he found the baby's half-formed face, pressed against the surface of her mother's skin. There.

When the mother woke to a slight stinging sensation, he was long gone. Dismissing it, she went back to sleep, unaware that her daughter was no longer hers.

"AMSHEL!" the angry, frustrated cry from one of the twins wrought through the night, and woke up most of the the patients in the hospital. Amshel, on the roof, grinned. His work was done. He would wait, he would lie low. He knew how to. He would hide, and wait for his queen to be born.

-n/s-

Amshel stood, masquerading in a white doctor's coat, by the side of the mother's bed. The baby who had been injected with Diva's DNA was being lifted from her mother's cut open stomach, wet and sticky. He had nearly lost hope when after 24 hours of labour the infant had still not been born. He had begun to panic that the change meant the child couldn't be born like a human; after all, the original Diva, her sister, and Diva's children had all been cut from their mother's stomachs, not birthed naturally.

He had suggested that a caesarean was in order; careful display of 'concern' for the baby's heartbeat was enough to convince the doctors. So now the child was finally breathing for the first time. Eager, Amshel leant forward; ready to behold his Diva, his new queen, at last.

Throughout the months of this child's 'mother's' pregnancy, he has waited, bided his time. He kept tabs on her throughout; though no one was aware of it, the unborn child had the best protection. If there was so much a _whisper _of a threat, Amshel extinguished it, driven desperate by his need.

And now, finally, the new born was being handed to him to clean. The tiny, fragile life beat in his hands, and for a moment he felt a wild, exhilarating joy. But then it was abruptly cut short. It was wrong. It was all _wrong_. The child was human.

He could feel it in his blood; the baby he held was purely human. It was not a queen. His hands tightened, and the baby came within an inch of being crushed, but she did not cry out. She simply opened her eyes, still silent, as she had been from the moment of her birth. Amshel's angry, frustrated gaze met the infants, and all of his anger was quenched. The baby might be human, but it was Diva. Her eyes confirmed it.

They were blue. Which was not so unusual, but they were a blue so intense they were practically violet. And they held an inner peace, an unreachable, closed off part that had been present in Diva's eyes and Saya's too. Probably Hibiki's and Kanade's as well. A part that, while visible, hinted at a different understanding that would always be unreachable to someone not of their kind. It had always frustrated Amshel, that unknown gleam, but this time looking upon it gave him hope.

This child surely had something of Diva in her. And that meant that there was still hope.

Amshel left quickly after that, but always he kept his eye on the child. Further experiments and logical thinking brought him to this conclusion; Diva's genes were there, buried, hidden and twisted into the human ones, taking no effect. But at the time when the original Diva had ceased aging, at the time when she had truly awoken, Amshel suspected that Diva's genes would awaken, changing the human girl into his queen.

* * *

><p><strong>Um... well, I'm still not entirely sure what this is, really -.-' This chapter is a bit boring, because it's a 'setting the scene' type chapter, and I realize that Amshel is a tad OCC at parts, but the story wouldn't work otherwise. The story also wouldn't work without Solomon being alive, so he is. XD<strong>

**Hope you enjoy, it should get a tad more exciting, and please review! =D**


	2. Blue Rose Blooming

**Chapter 2 - Blue Rose Blooming**

"The Gods hate us." She muttered. Her friend, a brown haired brown eyed Spanish girl, shot her a glance as they wearily got to their feet once more.

"Totally. What possessed Mr Hanlel to choose opera?"

"Ugh." Then there was no more time for speech; they were required to sing. Upon hearing that her year had to do an opera in the summer, Elizabeth Howard had been struck with images of fat, warbling ladies in dresses, singing unceasingly in Italian. So yes, the idea of being forced to do an opera (their delightful music teacher, Mr Hanlel, had wasted no time informing the horrified year group that _everybody_ had to take part) had quite literally made Elizabeth want to dash her brains out.

She hated doing anything public; singing in front of people, reading out loud, dancing, acting; all of it she hated. On the contrary, she loved to sing, just _privately_. She most definitely did _not_ like to sing opera in class on a Thursday morning.

Elizabeth, and her friends, had soon discovered that opera, to their surprise, could be amusing. More, it was sometimes in English, such as the one they were currently singing; the Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert & Sullivan. The upsides stopped there, in Elizabeth's opinion.

Standing in the stuffy choir room, being forced to repeatedly go over and over and over the same lyrics, phrases, tunes and cues, was not fun at all, not even for the people with main parts. The only people who seemed to even remotely be enjoying themselves were a girl called Parvati, who threw herself into everything with unnerving zeal, and the music teacher; energetically banging on the piano keys and shouting at them to keep up.

Even Elizabeth and her friend Clara, inexperienced singers though they were, could tell that the sound their class was making was, to put it politely, _limpid_. Or just shit, if you were being honest, as Elizabeth's group of friends so often were.

"_Go you heroes, go to immortality. Go you heroes go to immortality…_" The words blurred together and her mind wandered, as it so often did in music lessons… hell, in nearly _all_ lessons. Her gaze flitted around the room, unfocused, before settling on the open window, where the sunlight was streaming in. Her thoughts a million miles away, floating, Elizabeth was suddenly brought back to reality with a harsh, angry shout.

"ELIZABETH!" The piano juddered to a halt, and the voices of her classmates petered out as Elizabeth, startled, glanced back to the now standing music teacher.

"You are making a NEGATIVE contribution! Make a POSITIVE one! Just because you are not the best singer does NOT mean you can slack off!" He snapped. Elizabeth blinked, and was on the verge of meekly blushing and apologizing when she was hit with a sudden surety.

All of a sudden, she was positive that she _could_ sing, and she was struck with the overwhelming urge to prove it; open her mouth and let the angel sound that she was suddenly sure was inside her out… but the piano had started up again, and she had missed her chance.

Struggling against this urge, Elizabeth barely noticed that the piano had stopped once more, and it was only when Clara urgently nudged her that she realized that she was at that moment on the receiving end of Mr Hanlel's pointed glare.

"Uh…" Elizabeth muttered, surprised, and the urge to sing was abruptly forgotten.

"Seconds. Bare SECONDS after I tell you to _behave_," He hissed, a vein pulsing in his forehead as his face flushed red, throwing his white hair into stark contrast. "You go and mess it up. Again!" He yelled, slamming his hands down on the piano, which responded with a horrible jangling noise. Elizabeth flinched, and then blanched.

"You had better get it all right from now on, and I will be _watching _you." Mr Hanlel finished venomously, before they began the song again.

-n/s-

"Wasn't it hilarious though, when Mr Hanlel exploded at Eli?" Clara laughed, talking to one of their classmates; Harriet. Both Clara and Harriet exploded into giggles, while Elizabeth sighed and went to retrieve her tennis ball.

"Thank you, thank you. I was trying." She muttered to herself.

Elizabeth, normally quite a pleasant person to be around, had been in a particularly bad mood since Music. She felt awful; her head was swimming and she could taste blood in the back of her mouth; a feeling that was only intensifying as time went by.

Scowling, Elizabeth bent down to grab the errant tennis ball. Suddenly, her vision tipped sideways and she stumbled, a splutter forcing its way up her throat as she fell to her knees, scraping them on the tarmac.

The splutter turned into a hacking cough, and she saw dark spots. When her vision swimmingly returned to normal, she saw red on the ground, between her splayed hands.

_Blood. _

She was coughing up blood. Before Elizabeth could really contemplate that in any real detail, another cough accompanied by blood, more this time, came surging up her throat with a burn. Horrified, she sat up, still spluttering, as she felt something in her nose give; an all too familiar sensation that signalled a nosebleed.

The coughs were coming more and more frequently now, and the teacher's attention had been captured; the young sporty brunette came running up, concern written across her face. A trickle from her ears signalled more liquid, and from the way a few people were screaming and backing away, Elizabeth had the vague notion that it was blood, before her vision greyed once more, and she passed out.

…

She revived briefly in the ambulance, her vision strangely tinted red. She found out later that she had been crying blood as well, but at that moment she was too confused to to focus on anything to do with the external world; retreating inside herself once more.

_It was safer inside her mind; dark and comforting; like snuggling into a very familiar, well loved blanket. There was no light, nothing to hurt, nothing sharp. No pain. Just comforting blackness. _

_For a time, that's all there was, before Elizabeth became suddenly aware of herself; standing up. Time passed like this; Elizabeth merely aware of whom she was and that she was standing up. That was all, before she realized she was facing someone._

_More time passed, with these two people simply drinking the other in the darkness. Both wore not a stitch of clothing on their young bodies, but in the recess of Elizabeth's mind there was no concept of embarrassment._

_Elizabeth observed that the other girl was about her age, and about her height; not tall, but not exactly short either. This girl was exquisitely beautiful; her Asian features somehow softened so that they could be multicultural; and her wide, innocent eyes were larger than Elizabeth's memory of a stereotypical Asian person._

_As she watched this girl, both unmoving, Elizabeth noticed odd features that reminded her of herself; the tilt of her head, the way her dark hair fell, the way she held herself, her translucently pale skin. _

_The girl regarded her back through very blue eyes. Elizabeth's were blue, completing her blonde-hair-and-blue-eyes look very well, but they were hardly worthy of the term 'blue' in comparison to the azure of this girl's irises._

_Time continued to pass, with the two girls locked in each other's gazes. Then the dark haired one opened her coral lips and spoke, her voice oddly musical and childish, though her words were serious._

"_So you are to become me."_

"_Become you?" Elizabeth repeated, a small crease appearing imbetween her eyebrows. _

"_Indeed." The dark haired girl half-sang. "I am all that is left. Soon, I shall be gone, and you shall take my place." Abruptly, her expression grew serious, whilst Elizabeth sank deeper into confusion._

"_I hope we fare a little better this time. Beware of Amshel."_

"_Amshel? The character from that anime Uncle George gave me?" Elizabeth queried, puzzled. The darkness was beginning to lighten to a fuzzy grey around the edges, but neither girl appeared to notice._

"_That anime is one of a kind. That was your introduction to me. Look within yourself. You do not have to look far to find the answer." The girl answered. It was then that Elizabeth began to realize that the darkness was fading; which meant she was returning to consciousness. She took a stumbled step forwards, her hand reaching in a silent plea towards the other girl…_

Elizabeth's eyes opened to electric lights, her ears filtering the sounds of beeping machines and quite rustlings through to her muddled brain. Her hand was stretched out towards the ceiling, and Elizabeth gazed at her starfish of a hand with a bemused expression on her face for some time, before abruptly, she realized who she had been reaching out for.

Her hand dropped immediately, and slowly, Elizabeth eased herself into a sitting position. She barely took in her surroundings; noticing the white washed, bare and empty hospital room and feeling the slight tug of the tubes attached to her as she moved, but not really considering any of these details.

It was some time before her shoulders stopped shaking, and she felt brave enough to raise her head. She gazed unseeingly at the far wall with eyes that were truly worthy of being called blue, and still the tears trailed gently down her cheeks.

"I don't understand it." She whispered to herself, her voice strangely smooth despite its disuse. "But we're one, are we not?" She cocked her head to one side, and gave a strangled sob that almost sounded like a laugh.

"Not yet. But I am becoming you, and you are becoming me. Diva."

And then she opened her mouth, and began to sing. The heavenly sound filled the hospital, but although it was heavenly, the voice was so imbued with sadness it brought tears to the eyes of all who heard it.

-n/s-

It was weeks after Elizabeth's discharge from the hospital when, far away from the drearily wet London, a blonde man sensed something.

He was sitting on a beach, looking out with pale blue eyes across the sparkling ocean. While this water was usually the same colour as his eyes, it was sunset, and the horizon was painted with splashes of orange and gold, with streaks of pink blended in amongst the more fiery tones.

Solomon stiffened and sat up properly from his half-lounging position. He frowned, and shut his eyes, so better to focus on the sense. It was like a primeval instinct, which he hadn't felt for thirty years, since that terrible day in the MET.

Van Argiano, the blithering French fool, had rescued the nearly dead Solomon after Amshel had left him for dead. Somehow, the crazy candy man had managed to rescue Solomon, using Diva's blood to combat Saya's.

How that worked, Solomon didn't know, and as he had escaped from Van as soon as had been able to, he didn't get to find out.

But he was alive, and he had teamed up with Saya once more. She got her wish, and he helped Kai and Hagi persuade her to live, even as something broke inside him at Diva's death.

So he had returned to Okinawa with her and the twins, and had helped Kai to raise them.

Though he still felt slightly miffed that he shared the title of 'Uncle' with Hagi, he adored the little girls, and was especially drawn to Hibiki; who had the brown-red eyes of Saya.

When Amshel struck at them, when the girls were sixteen and had just ceased to age, he and Hagi had teamed up with the twins to fight back. They had not been able to capture Amshel, not even when Saya had awoken and joined them in their fight fourteen years later.

They had not found trace of Amshel for nearly sixteen years now, and after a year of fighting Saya, Kanade and Hibiki had decided to keep alert, but return to Okinawa to 'make the most of the time Saya had while she was awake'.

Only now, it seemed something else was stirring. Solomon stood as a sea breeze tousled his blonde curls, his expression pensive and anxious.

_Surely not? It can't be… She's dead, isn't she? I saw her crystallize with my own eyes!_ Solomon shut his eyes again, casting his senses about, searching.

There. There it was again, from the West.

_How can she be…? Unless,_ Solomon's eyes narrowed, _Unless Amshel…_

Smartly, he turned on his heel and left the relative peace on the beach, still deep in thought.

_Diva…_

-n/s-

He had found her. Solomon did not understand half of it; Amshel's thinking was harder to decipher than his actions, so Solomon did not question why he felt the presence of his queen rippling out from this slight, young and blonde English girl.

She sat straight backed, her hair short and cropped, facing the front of her classroom and attentively listening to the teacher; a model student.

The only features she seemed to share with Diva were the blue of her eyes and paleness of her skin, but gazing fixedly at her face now Solomon seemed to see more and more 'Diva' about her; the arch of her eyebrows, the curve of her neck, the angle of her eyes…

Solomon's own eyes narrowed.

Whatever she was, whatever the circumstances, this girl was most definitely his queen, Diva. Although that wasn't possible, there was no mistaking the feeling that was rushing through Solomon's veins. The urge to protect and serve, to comfort and love…

Shaking his head to clear it, Solomon's hand morphed into a gleaming blade of deadly ice blue. He raised it and eyed the open window, with a gentle expression on his face.

-n/s-

It happened blindingly fast, even for Solomon. He charged through the window, the glass shattering around him and nicking his dark suit and skin.

But he was indifferent to the small pains; his blade of a hand aimed towards his target's head. She had not even moved, but he had not time to consider this. Her head turned, and there was a flash of blue, and then his blade had sunk into the garish green of her seat, where seconds before she had been calmly sitting.

The students around him began to scream and squeal, scrambling away, while the teacher's mouth opened and closed like a fish's; she was at loss as to what she should do.

Solomon looked up; his eyes still narrowed, and saw the girl. All at once, he knew that even if she wasn't Diva, she was a chiropteran, and powerful. She stood on the top of a desk a few yards away, her hair suddenly long and still blowing out in front of her, caught in the energy of her movement.

"What a rude Chevalier." She said, indifferent, barely a tinge of sadness to her words, "And when you're one of mine, too."

"Diva." Solomon stood and glared at his queen. "The sorrow you caused Saya… I won't let you do it again!" She looked amused, but not afraid, as Solomon readied his bladed hand to strike once more.

"So what are you going to do, brave knight?" She asked mockingly; her words sharp as ice. Solomon glowered, tendrils of red creeping into his otherwise pale blue eyes.

"I will kill you, before Saya has to face the pain of fighting again." She threw back her head and laughed with real amusement in her eyes, which stopped Solomon in his tracks.

"Are you deluded?" She asked; gleefully knowing. "You cannot kill me." Solomon frowned disbelievingly; once she had been stronger than him, but now, when she was barely herself?

She laughed again; guessing his thoughts.

"I am your _mother_." She hissed. "I gave you life. My blood runs through your veins. You cannot kill your queen; it goes against your very genetic data. And no matter what you might think or what the sayings might say," She continued, suddenly appearing right in front of him, close enough that he could see the burning emotion in her crystalline eyes. The realisation of what that emotion was burned him in turn like whiplash. "Blood is always stronger than love. Blood is always thicker than water." She said.

The emotion was guilt. Regret, fear, sorrow, naivety, cruelty, sarcasm, anger; they were all there too, but guilt covered them all with a thick, unmistakable film. Solomon backed up, his mind whirling. How could she feel guilt? Diva did not feel such emotions; not like that, not real guilt; the kind that crawled over your skin constantly, not that kind. Not Diva. Solomon gasped, his eyes losing their red glow as he gazed at her in horror.

"You… You are not Diva…" He said uncertainly. She smiled at him gently.

"Solomon, I believe we should continue this outside. We are disrupting the lesson." She said calmly, gesturing to the shocked class and shaking teacher. Solomon took them in for the first time, as she turned and lead the way outside, not even glancing back to see if he was following. She knew he would. But how?

"You're not Diva." Solomon repeated; like the more he said the words, the more truthful they would become, as a breeze blew across the grounds, rustling the roses that grew there. She had led him out of the classroom and onto a small lawn, with a few trees and general foliage. She leaned over slightly and delicately cupped a soft pink rose in her hands.

"Not yet. But soon I will be." She said, stroking the rose gently with her fingertips. She angled her face towards the young man, accepting fear showing clearly in her blue eyes. Solomon was completely thrown; she was like Diva, and yet at the same time not. And while she clearly was Diva, at least in part, the fact that she showed her emotions so clearly was so new; Diva had hidden her true feelings right up until the end, encased in a diamond.

"Solomon, would you believe me if I told you I was sorry?" she asked softly, no longer meeting his gaze but instead inspecting the curling petals of the flower cupped in her lily white hands. His eyes widened in surprise and his lips parted, but no sound came out. She dropped the rose and straightened, turning to face him full on.

"I am sorry, Solomon, truly sorry. I cannot put real regret into those words, and I'm sorry for that too. I know what I did, the last time I was on this earth, but I do not remember it. I know it, but I don't remember it, and I only know parts of it. What I do know," she continued, gazing steadily at him, "What I do know is that I hurt you. I hurt you terribly, and I'm sorry for that. But I was hurt too. That's no excuse, but I was." She said, shaking her head slightly, her blonde hair trailing across her face.

"I was hurt that you no longer loved me; that you tried to kill me. I was hurt that not only Carl, but you as well, you both preferred Saya over me. That hurt Solomon, but I should not have hurt you back. I know that now." In that moment she was truly Diva, even if Solomon could never have imagined the words she spoke coming from Diva's mouth in a million years.

"You… really are Diva, aren't you." He said softly, the sentence a statement, not a question. She gazed at him, her eyes the clearest blue he had seen them so far.

"Yes. Can I ask you a favour? Well, two favours." His eyes became guarded, but he slowly nodded. She smiled briefly in relief, before ducking her head.

"Will you help me? I'm afraid, Solomon. I am still the girl I have been for most of this life, but now I am becoming the person I was before. It is very… frightening. Will you stay with me?" She asked. Solomon's eyes widened again, but she gave him no chance to reply.

"And also, may we begin anew? A new body, a new life, a new relationship. I loved you in the wrong way, I think. Can you think of me as…? I don't know. Family?" She still would not meet his gaze, and he honestly did not know how to react. On the one hand, he wanted so badly to say yes; his very genetic makeup wanted to comfort the girl who stood in front of him, but on the other hand, his true love lay with Saya. And this was Diva…

As if sensing his thoughts, she looked up, meeting his eyes once more; blue to blue.

"You're still hurting, aren't you Solomon?" she asked softly; she knew the answer.

"How…" startled by the roughness of his voice, he cleared his throat and began again. "How do you know that?" She smiled, amused once more.

"A mother can tell. A mother always knows how her children feel. When I turned you into my chevalier, your purpose in life became me. To turn away from that, to deny your blood's meaning…" she shook her head, amazed. "Even if you were strong and able to do it, it hurts. It will stop hurting if I accept you and you me. But it is your decision. You live for Saya now, do you not?" Again, this question required no answer, but at her mention of Saya, it was like glass shattering in his mind. Solomon felt the pain of it like a dagger in his chest, but his decision was abruptly made. He bowed to the girl who had once been the centre of his entire world.

"Saya wished you dead. I will carry out that wish." He said, raising his still bladed hand. Suddenly, her expression turned icy, and she was more like the angry Diva of old.

"For what purpose, dearest chevalier, did she wish me dead?" She asked with eyes as hard as flint and voice sharper than diamond shards.

"For revenge." He replied, but he felt the stirrings of doubt in his chest.

"No. That was only one reason. There were other reasons that you do not know. She wanted me dead because of the harm I brought to the world. She wanted to wipe our very existence out, me, herself, even my children and her beloved Hagi. All of us, she planned on killing, so we could not carry on with our war that raged its bloody way across history. She never wanted me dead so she could live without fighting, Solomon. But you never knew that, did you? Hagi did. Hagi does. Do you think he does not sense me? Why do you think he has not sought me out?" The truth that Solomon did not want to believe rang through her words.

"He has not sought me merely because he is faithful, waiting for his queen's verdict and afraid to act on his own. He has not sought me out because he knows that faced with my return, Saya may not decide to kill me, at least not immediately. You said earlier that you wanted to stop me from bringing her pain and sorrow again. But I am different this time, Solomon, please understand that."

"Different?" He thought it was probably the first time he had ever heard Diva say 'please'. And still she still gazed unflinchingly at him, and he could not look away.

"Different. Did you ever wonder what made me the way I was? How much my experiences in life had made me the broken person who hurt so many people? This time I have sixteen years of a good upbringing. I have been taught right from wrong. And that is why I want your help. I want you to help me hold onto that knowledge."

Silence reigned while Solomon finally tore his gaze away from her piercing eyes and looked at the grass at his feet. The fact she spoke the truth rang through his head, and he did not know whether he was glad or angry; all he could feel was surprise. Looking up, he saw the slender frame of the girl before him, and felt her terror and fear of the unknown. He decided.

Solomon threw away his blade and regained his human-like hand. Walking up to her, she did not flinch nor move in the slightest; she sensed he would not hurt her. He knelt before her and kissed her hand, and as he did so he felt a wound heal, a wound that had so long sat in his heart that he had stopped noticing it.

"As you wish, my queen." Her hand slipped from his and she cradled his face, tipping it up to face her. She tilted her head on one side, smiling happily.

"_Poor wandering one,_" She crooned gently, her pure, angel-like voice swelling and dancing on the breeze. "_Thou who hath surely strayed, Take heart of grace, thy steps retrace, Poor wandering one._" Mr Hansel, the music teacher who had shouted at her less than two weeks before, stopped midstride as he passed the lawn, hearing the voice with wonder.

"_Poor wandering one, if such poor love as mine, Can help thee find, true peace of mind, then take it, it is thine._"

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><p><strong>I finally managed to update! I'm so sorry it took so long, and I also apologize for this chapter; I think it's a bit awkward in parts, but it should get smoother as I get into the story!<strong>

** All songs are from Pirates of Penzance.**

**I hope you like, and please review! XD**


	3. Thorns of Blood

**Chapter 3 - Thorns of Blood**

She stumbled again, her hand suddenly tightening its grip on his. Solomon was half-expecting it; his body shifting instinctively to catch her.

"My queen, please." He said gently, and while she shook her blonde head before she had even begun to register the question properly, there was little protest left.

The fact was, she needed blood, no matter how much she disliked the idea. Solomon had been trying for nearly three weeks to persuade her to at least drink from him, but the principles of Elizabeth continued to refuse.

Now though, with the change to Diva complete but for the colour of her hair, the hunger was impossible to ignore.

"I… won't…" She gasped, before her knees gave out completely. Solomon was still supporting her, so she didn't fall, and he lowered her gently to the carpeted floor of her bedroom. Her parents slept on oblivious on the floor below, with her younger brother. Solomon's speed had been rather useful when it came to sneaking unseen into Elizabeth's bedroom.

"You must. Please." She looked up at him, her eyes shifting colour from pure blue to glowing azure. And finally, the blue glow won out, and Solomon saw it with relief, shifting her up so that his bared neck was within easy reach. She bit, and she drank almost as much as the greedy Diva of old would have; she had been resisting for so long.

So enthralled in the moment were they that neither noticed when the light flickered on. Both looked up, however, when Elizabeth's mother gave a loud shriek that brought her father running. Elizabeth looked up, her lips and chin stained berry red.

"Elizabeth! What is going on?" Elizabeth stared at her hysterical mother for a few moments, as Solomon stood, somehow managing to look guilty, surprised and unsure all at the same time.

"Um…" He said quietly, and Mr & Mrs Howard's eyes both flickered to him.

"Who are you?" Mr Howard asked suspiciously; his voice measured but angry.

"Ah… I'm Solomon Goldsmith; it's nice to meet you." He bowed, and as he did so he frantically caught his queen's eyes, only to find she was glaring at him incredulously, as if she couldn't quite believe how imbecilic he was.

There was a small silence, before Elizabeth sighed and held up her hand.

"Solomon." She commanded, and instantly Solomon was at her side, helping her up. The blood that had trailed down her chin suddenly dripped onto the white of her t-shirt, making her mother jump.

"Elizabeth, what is going on?" Mrs Howard repeated, stepping forwards with one hand outstretched. Elizabeth faced them, and both parents froze; they knew their daughter, and this girl was not her.

"Mr and Mrs Howard, it has been a pleasure knowing you. Thank you for taking care of me up until now." Neither her mother nor her father could say a word as she bowed, before turning to Solomon once more.

He needed no audible command; sweeping her up in his arms, he leapt out of the open window and out of sight.

-n/s-

"Damn it! We can't just leave it like this, but what can we do!" She exclaimed, running her hands through her hair. Solomon swiftly pulled the scissors out of the way of his queen's fingers.

"My queen, it makes it a little harder for me to cut your hair if you do that." He said mildly, and she obligingly pulled her fingers from her hair.

The transformation seemed to have brought on a bit of a growth surge where her hair was concerned; previously a bob barely brushing her chin, it had quickly grown in length until it trailed across the floor. Not that it seemed to have slowed the pace down, Solomon was shortening it so it reached her hips. Strangely enough, she had decided that she didn't want a fringe; so whenever the wind blew the forefront parts of her hair blew across her face.

"Don't you agree?" She demanded, her fists clenching, as Solomon began to finish up his haircut.

"Yes. They will look for you, after all." He said, and he heard her teeth grit.

"Damn it. It's really the only way…" She murmured to herself, and Solomon looked up enquiringly.

"The only way?"

"To fake my death, Solomon. Somehow, you're going to have to help me do that." His eyes widened before he thought, finishing the last few cuts as he did so.

"Well, there is probably a poison or something that would work…" She giggled suddenly, making him jump, and stood, stretching her arms out.

"Just like Juliet, huh?" She laughed, whirling to face him, and he smiled. She wandered over to perch upon the window seat, gazing out over the wide grounds of the country-side mansion that Solomon owned, as her chevalier packed up his scissors.

"Hey, Solomon." She said softly, suddenly serious.

"Yes?" He had moved to sit in an armchair, facing the window and so his queen, with a book, but now he looked up, attentative.

"I think I need a new name."

"A new name?" She turned to face him, her expression sombre.

"Yes. I can't be Elizabeth, and I don't want to be called 'Diva'. Diva is Diva's name. The real Diva." She answered, and he put his book aside.

"Did you have any ideas?" She turned to gaze out of the window once more.

"Yes. I looked on your laptop, and I found three that I like, but none of them are quite right…" She trailed off thoughtfully, and Solomon smiled again.

"Well, what are those three?"

"Asami, Atsuko and Ayano." She said, turning and meeting his gaze with a mild curiosity to see what he thought.

"Mmm. 'Morning beauty', 'kind child' and 'my colour', and the letter 'a'?" He asked, and she smiled gently at him, the same smile she smiled when she sang to him.

"I like the letter A. It is a dependable letter, nice and safe. What do you think?" She asked, standing and coming to sit on the arm of his chair. He looked up at her, taking her hand as he found it; the perfect new name for her.

"Amaoi." He said. She blinked, before looking thoughtful.

"'Ama', 'heaven' and 'aoi', blue? Blue heaven… I like it." She decided, before abruptly half-falling from her seat to give him a hug.

"Thank you, Solomon." Solomon knew that she wasn't just thanking him for her name. She sang to him then, to say thank you.

"_Into the deep blue sky_

_Our affections are being dispersed_

_If only you were my fated person_

_Reality isn't always like our dreams_

_Inside the shining wind_

_The wings of a dream descend_

_Have courage and fly to the future_

_So beautiful_

_The burning beat of my heart starts beating_

_At the same speed as on that day_

_I love those who look straight ahead_

_I want to look at it forever_

_To the glittering stream of stars_

_We each murmur our special important wish_

_When I close my eyes, only you come to mind_

_I want to see you now_

_Because twice you have not turned back_

_And not let go of this movement_

_You have brightened my life_

_And made it lovely_

_I want to discover the real me_

_I have been reborn in order to protect you_

_Catching the miracle which keeps passing through_

_Until the next world_

_The burning beat of my heart starts beating_

_At the same speed as on that day_

_I want to discover the real me_

_I have been reborn in order to protect you_

_Catching the miracle which keeps passing through_

_Until the next world_

_Powerfully, eternally._"

Solomon was so lost in the song that the sharp sting as her fangs slid into his neck shocked him; his grip tightening on his queen's lithe body. His expression grew sorrowful as she drank, and he tipped his head back.

"And so the thorns of blood tighten, digging ever tighter…" He quoted, though he did not know whom had said it. Probably Nathan, or possibly Karl. They always were the insane ones. He closed his eyes, as she drank deeper.

-n/s-

"We weren't prepared for you to go, you were to full of life to be, taken away from us so soon, it's still hard to believe. How much we'll miss your smile, and your laughter in our ears, your absence leaves a hole in us, we're filling with our tears. You taught us how to be our best, to in the moment live, to never hold a grudge for long, and loyal friendship give. Your presence was a light and joy, our darling daughter, Elizabeth." There was muted applause as the poem from Elizabeth's mother finished, and Solomon surreptitiously loosed the black tie around his neck.

Amaoi had asked him to go to her funeral to 'oversee' things, and while he still wasn't entirely certain what she meant by that, he was there. It had been a relatively simple matter to do a little 'mind magic', as Amaoi liked to call it, and convince Elizabeth's family and friends that a) he had never existed, and b) Elizabeth had died peacefully in her sleep from a silent disease that nobody really knew much about.

While he was upset at the grief they had had to cause her family, Amaoi had argued that it was better than putting them in danger because she couldn't let go, and Solomon could tell that she was more distraught than he was.

As soon as the lid of the coffin shut, he felt his queen begin to breathe again, and heard her rustling as she pulled out her i-pod to entertain herself. He tried not to laugh; bending over to hide his smile.

A sudden buzzing sensation against his left thigh nearly made him jump, before he realised it was his phone. Carefully, he delved into his pocket to retrieve the smart phone, gazing at the number and name displayed on the lit up screen grimly.

'_000-000-000 - Saya Otonashi_'. With a sigh, he disconnected the the call and, switching it off, slipped it into his pocket. He knew exactly what the calls log would say when he later took it out to stare at again; 367 missed calls and 412 messages, variously from Saya, Hibiki, Kanade, Kai and Hagi (though he suspected that was Saya on Hagi's new and rarely used phone - Hagi wasn't exactly one for technology. He had broken the computer a few months back, or Solomon probably would have had numerous unread emails as well.)

As they lowered Elizabeth's coffin into the ground, he mentally prepared himself for the task of digging that up to let Amaoi out later. And so the funeral continued, and 'Elizabeth Katelyn Howard' died.

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><p><strong>Hello! God, I'm so sorry it took me so long to update... I think I have a disease where I keep starting new stories and not finishing them...but I will finish this! <strong>

**This chappy is short because it's a bit of a filler - transition if you will. So the next one should be longer, and hopefully quicker too! **

**The song is shining days from Mai HiME and the eulogy poem is Gone Too Soon by Jilchristy Dee.**

**Review and let me know what you think! XD**


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